Autotoxemia
-
Dates2020 - Ongoing
-
Author
Autotoxemia series seeks to visualize the sense of resentment and hostility directed at that which one identifies as the cause of one's frustration, generated by a sense of weakness and inferiority and feelings of jealousy and envy.
In philosophy and psychology, "Ressentiment" is one of the forms of resentment or hostility. The
concept was of particular interest to some 19th century thinkers, most notably Friedrich Nietzsche.
The term was also studied by Max Scheler in a monograph published in 1912 and reworked a few
years later. Scheler attempted to place Nietzsche's ideas in a more sociologically articulated context.
He started by considering how values are established within society and next proceeded to analyze
their sharing or rejection on various grounds.
Scheler's described Ressentiment in his book by the same title as follows:
“…Ressentiment is a self-poisoning of the mind which has quite definite causes and consequences.
It is a lasting mental attitude, caused by the systematic repression of certain emotions and affects
which, as such are normal components of human nature. Their repression leads to the constant
tendency to indulge in certain kinds of value delusions and corresponding value judgments. The
emotions and affects primarily concerned are revenge, hatred, malice, envy, the impulse to detract,
and spite...”
Autotoxemia series seeks to visualize the sense of resentment and hostility directed at that which
one identifies as the cause of one's frustration, generated by a sense of weakness and inferiority and
feelings of jealousy and envy.
A combination of collage portraits and abstract images were used in this work. The facial features
of the portraits have been replaced with photographs of stormy seas, which convey the emotional
state of a resentful man, as facial expressions are a form of nonverbal communication. All these
images were processed in such a way as to refer to the toxicity that results from the state of
resentment.